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Post by compeateropeator on Jun 28, 2022 14:08:38 GMT
Do you follow your GPS even if there are signs/situations that indicates maybe you shouldn’t? I don’t use one but am curious how much faith you have in it or how much you rely on it? I typically just look up the directions before I leave, but use them when traveling with friends. I don’t completely trust them and I always look for additional signage. 😉😄 We have a road (state route 108) in my state that is called Smugglers Notch. Part of it is closed October thru May because it becomes impassable. Part of this road is very narrow and winding and tractor trailer trucks, motorhomes, commercial vehicles, etc are ban from using it because they can’t make the curves and get stuck. Many locals use it who work and/or live on the other side of the gap. In spite of the warnings, we get multiple drivers every year who try to use it while following their GPS. Once they become stuck it is a process to try and tow them out and typically closes the road for hours (plus often cause damage to their trucks/vehicles). So state officials have been trying to come up with solutions to try and avoid this. The latest are multiple large signs on both sides of the notch flashing messages trucks can not use it and there is now a 3500.00 fine if they do. Believe me it is well marked, but people continue to try. Why? We just had our 1st one of the season yesterday. A tractor trailer driver from Florida. He said he saw the signs but continued to follow his GPS. And like every other truck he had to be towed out. I don’t get it. 🤷🏻♀️ Stuck truck |
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Post by workingclassdog on Jun 28, 2022 14:16:27 GMT
I would say I rely on it about 70% of the time... If I feel I am not going in the right direction or see signs, I will typically either stop and double check or follow the signs instead. That said the worst city I navigate through is not a huge town but EVERY time I go through it to my mom's house I always get confused.
Wichita, KS. Every.single.time I go through that damn town GPS tries to take me on all these side highways or 50 miles out of town.. I don't know why. My mom said her GPS does the same thing. And the signs are confusing as well. I finally figured out part of my problem. Two highways have similar numbers/letters... there is I-35 and there is 135 and for the life of me I didn't realize this. I am pretty good now going through but I have to pay attention.
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Anita
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,642 
Location: Kansas City -ish
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Post by Anita on Jun 28, 2022 14:25:41 GMT
I use mine all the time, but I only believe it about 75% of the time. Case in point...there is a bridge closed for repairs about a mile from my house, but the entry to my housing area is a road that turns about 100 feet before you get to the bridge. Ever since they blocked the bridge, my GPS has been trying to tell me that my entire entry road is closed. I know better. You should see it light up when I drive past the "do not enter" area on its screen.  |
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smartypants71
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,696
Location: Houston, TX
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Post by smartypants71 on Jun 28, 2022 14:26:28 GMT
I use mine basically for traffic information, but I question some of the decisions it makes and sometimes it can be downright dangerous.
It always tries to tell my Uber to turn into my neighborhood just after the exit from the freeway. It wants you to cross 3 lanes of usually heavy traffic in less than 100 feet. I always have to make sure my driver knows he can just go to the next block.
This weekend, i was driving to a part of town I don't frequent. It was telling me to take a route I knew would be a nightmare (the loop to southwest freeway for the locals). This is a part of town that everyone knows to avoid at all costs if you can. The friend I was going to see was in a brand new neighborhood, so his address wasn't on my car Nav yet, so I switched to the Apple maps. It was so much better! Apple has really upped their game to where i may start using that instead.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 29, 2024 9:15:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2022 14:30:41 GMT
I only use it if I'm driving in an unfamiliar town and looking for a particular address. I use it in London though as I get confused to which lane I should be in and it also tells me if there are traffic delays on certain routes.
I wouldn't say I don't trust it as mine does update on a regular basis but I have once ended up going up a farm track - that was fun as there was nowhere to turn round and I had to reverse back to the main road.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jun 28, 2022 14:31:37 GMT
Google Maps is usually pretty good. I tend to like to look through the list of steps before hitting go, or check the alternate routes to see if I think a different one might be better depending on the time of day and the direction I’m going.
There is one spot on the route between our house and our lake cabin where it always wants to send us down this weird little one way back street that it thinks is a short cut. It’s literally about a one block jog to the right and then again to the left that dumps you out on the exact same road you would have ended up on anyway if you would have stayed the course you were originally on and it doesn’t save you any time. It’s just weird so we always just stay on the main road every time.
Once when built in vehicle GPS was a newer thing, I was trying to use it to get directions to this event center in South Dakota. I had a GPS on my phone too and neither one knew where this place was. It took me on a roughly 10 mile out of the way detour past the place I needed to go before it got totally lost. Luckily I also had a paper map and figured out what the computers could not, and I ended up where I needed to be but not without a LOT of frustration!
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Post by compeateropeator on Jun 28, 2022 14:45:53 GMT
I only use it if I'm driving in an unfamiliar town and looking for a particular address. I use it in London though as I get confused to which lane I should be in and it also tells me if there are traffic delays on certain routes. I wouldn't say I don't trust it as mine does update on a regular basis but I have once ended up going up a farm track - that was fun as there was nowhere to turn round and I had to reverse back to the main road.This was my other story. My uncle has had to go and pull a bunch of people out who got stuck on a class 4 road (not maintained) that their dirt road turns into because people just try and follow their GPS. I always think to myself yeah I think when I saw the grass growing between the tracks I would start to think maybe this isn’t right. 😆. Hahaha. |
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Post by bianca42 on Jun 28, 2022 14:48:54 GMT
At my last house I always had to warn people that the GPS would have them turn onto the street before ours and then drive through a little league baseball field.  |
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Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2022 14:49:26 GMT
I use it but temper it with my own common sense. And if I’m going somewhere unfamiliar, I often check the route in two different apps before going out - sometimes one has current road closures in it and the other doesn’t.
As @smartypants said, Houston drivers know when what the map tells you is a bad idea.
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milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,421
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
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Post by milocat on Jun 28, 2022 14:54:32 GMT
You look up directions before you go. How? On a paper map? On Google maps on your computer? My GPS is Google maps on my phone and I trust it to be more updated than a paper map. It can show slow traffic and suggest and alternate route. So it can be pretty up to date. If there were big flashing signs that a road was impassable I wouldn't take it even if the GPS said to. I'd pull over, and go into Google Maps myself and look for the alternate route and then be off in a different direction.
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Post by grammadee on Jun 28, 2022 15:01:17 GMT
I wouldn't say I don't trust it as mine does update on a regular basis but I have once ended up going up a farm track - that was fun as there was nowhere to turn round and I had to reverse back to the main road. Hey, before gps was a thing, I wound up on a farm track at the bottom of a hill on one side of a river, when my desination was across the water. I was following a ROAD MAP!
I use my iphone alot for navigation. It is usually up to date on changes due to weather or construction and will recalculate my route accordingly. But a few times--why does this always happen when you are in a time crunch or have someone with you who is incredibly nervous about being lost?--Siri has happily told me I have "reached your destination", when I am on a highway with no obvious exits, and while I can SEE my chosen destination off to one side of the road or the other, I can see no way to get there? And a couple of times Siri has taken me to a store that is closed for renovations--several blocks past its new location! My Apple CarPlay puts the map up on the screen on my dash, so glancing at that will give me a bit of heads up as to which lane I should be in, and if I am glancing at the screen, I am not squinting at road signs. I guess I listen to Siri until a problem happens. Then I start looking at the signs. |
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christinec68
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,119
Location: New York, NY
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Post by christinec68 on Jun 28, 2022 15:03:37 GMT
If I am someplace I am completely unfamiliar with, I trust it since I don't have much choice. Twice it led me astray - once it was way off in a different direction. The other time the place I was going was in a fenced in corporate park of sorts and GPS brought me to a fence at the dead end street closest to the building. compeateropeator I don't know if flashing signs will help keep larger vehicles off that road. There are a few parkways in my area where trucks & commercial vehicles are prohibited. There are signs at every highway entrance and along the ramps and every day I see a video clip of a truck backing up to get off the parkway or stuck at an overpass. |
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Post by compeateropeator on Jun 28, 2022 15:07:21 GMT
You look up directions before you go. How? On a paper map? On Google maps on your computer? My GPS is Google maps on my phone and I trust it to be more updated than a paper map. It can show slow traffic and suggest and alternate route. So it can be pretty up to date. If there were big flashing signs that a road was impassable I wouldn't take it even if the GPS said to. I'd pull over, and go into Google Maps myself and look for the alternate route and then be off in a different direction. Mapquest or google maps on my iPad, phone or computer. I can double check on my phone if I have questions. I also have a state atlas in my car and use that a lot when just meandering and looking for different roads within my state. I will also often take a different route than a main route just to see something different or because I haven’t been on that road for awhile. My situation is probably different than many, as it I am in Vermont and we are not a hub of traffic, 5 lane highways, and such. 😆. Actually we are more back roads, side streets and state roads. Sometimes the atlas is much better than the GPS if you don’t want to end up stuck or on a class 4 road. 😉 |
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Post by compeateropeator on Jun 28, 2022 15:13:28 GMT
I (or should I say my brother because he was sick of asking me if I had done it yet and me saying not yet😆) just setup my Apple CarPlay so I will probably use the maps more, especially for knowing what lane to use or confirmation that I am going the correct way. I get distracted by things and often forget to pay attention to the GPS when driving, I like to know in advance roughly how to get there and what landmarks to look for.
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Post by compeateropeator on Jun 28, 2022 15:23:00 GMT
If I am someplace I am completely unfamiliar with, I trust it since I don't have much choice. Twice it led me astray - once it was way off in a different direction. The other time the place I was going was in a fenced in corporate park of sorts and GPS brought me to a fence at the dead end street closest to the building. compeateropeator I don't know if flashing signs will help keep larger vehicles off that road. There are a few parkways in my area where trucks & commercial vehicles are prohibited. There are signs at every highway entrance and along the ramps and every day I see a video clip of a truck backing up to get off the parkway or stuck at an overpass. It is crazy it doesn’t but it should. Hahaha. They have them on the interstate before you get off at Stowe, they have them when you get off and start up the mountain road. They are talking about possibly installing some kind of arch /entry way that you have to go through that wouldn’t fit trucks. The problem is once they start up the mountain road there really isn’t an easy place for them to turn around if they make it to the notch part. I think the state has even tried to work with the GPS companies to give some kind of warning. |
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Post by huskermom98 on Jun 28, 2022 15:30:34 GMT
I trust Google Maps, but I usually check the route before I go. If it's some place really unfamiliar or some place I might not have service I will follow the route on the screen to see if anything looks odd.
What I don't "trust" or really just get annoyed with, is the GPS on my phone because it seems to like to wander. If I'm not careful it will start rerouting me because the signal shows me on the next road instead of the road I'm on. I've learned I have to use my AirPods or turn the volume off if I'm navigating while DH is driving somewhere unfamiliar so he doesn't start changing lanes unnecessarily.
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Post by MZF on Jun 28, 2022 15:36:23 GMT
Mine is pretty accurate. But regardless, you still need to pay attention to where you are and are going.
My sister and I were in Reno recently, and her GPS told her to take a left. Good thing I was paying attention or she would have turned and hit a road island and been facing oncoming traffic. Later it said we were at our destination, which was a gas station, but we were at an intersection and there was no gas station. These were surprising mis-information, as hers has been very accurate until then.
We had visitors from Germany quite a few years ago, had they blindly followed the GPS in their rental car, they would have gone into the ocean.
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Post by ntsf on Jun 28, 2022 15:45:27 GMT
we tend to use waze everywhere, as it updates in real time. I sometimes in my town don't follow it cause it seems to default to freeways..and if something happens on a freeway you are stuck.. we used waze driving all over new zealand..and it has been good. I do sometimes look ahead at traffic on google maps or apple maps. I want to understand the basic route before I go.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jun 28, 2022 15:48:06 GMT
I use GPS pretty much every day for work or to get to baseball games. I can't remember the last time it was wrong.
ETA that my phone doesn't have a navigation system. I use apple maps.
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sharlag
Drama Llama
I like my artsy with a little bit of fartsy.
Posts: 6,574
Location: Kansas
Jun 26, 2014 12:57:48 GMT
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Post by sharlag on Jun 28, 2022 15:55:39 GMT
It *DOES* make you sort of trustfully follow a machine, and encourages you to 'shut off' other input like road signs, etc. That's how I ended going thru a toll booth without paying in Oklahoma. The GPS told me to 'bear left', and I dutifully did so without registering that I was in the wrong lane.
In general, I look at the map and try to insert reasonableness into the trip at the same time listening to the GPS. This is after I drove circuitously around in small, rural Kansas towns until I missed my son's wrestling match.
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Post by workingclassdog on Jun 28, 2022 15:58:10 GMT
funny story about my mom and her husband. Go on a trip with them and your head WILL explode.
They have ALL of these running. One or two smart phones, the car's GPS, and the Rand McNally.
Mom and I were going to Branson for a weekend. Now I know where Branson is and can get there pretty much without GPS. But I turn my phone GPS on and kinda follow those instructions just in case. But then comes in my mom. She turns on HER GPS (she is not driving mind you).. and she has her Rand McNally out on her lap with her finger trying to find the right position. So this is what I hear from the driver's seat..2 GPS's telling me to go different ways, my mom telling me to go another way and my brain ready to explode. Meanwhile RIGHT on the highway shows me where I am going. I finally have to tell mom.. TURN OFF your GPS and put away the Rand. Just enjoy the drive. OYE.... I can't even imagine being in the car with her and her husband. It's gotta be a nightmare.
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cakediva
Drama Llama
Making the world a sweeter place one cake at a time!
Posts: 7,406
Location: Fergus, Ontario
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Post by cakediva on Jun 28, 2022 15:58:19 GMT
I quit using my car GPS and now plug in my phone and use my apple car play/google maps.
I cannot figure out for the life of me why my car GPS will take the longest ass route it can find, no matter what I change the settings to.
I like google maps - it reroutes if there are traffic issues and will tell me if there is a faster way.
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Post by katlady on Jun 28, 2022 16:03:55 GMT
I don’t turn on the step by step instructions. One time it told me to turn left when the destination, which I could see, was on my right. I turned right, and it told me to make a U-turn. I turned it off. 😆
I do check Google maps before I start, and I turn on the map system that is a part of my car. That is enough for me to find my way.
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Post by busy on Jun 28, 2022 16:09:42 GMT
I trust it pretty much completely when I'm in cities and suburbs. Of course if something in reality - a new road closure, etc - conflicted with what GPS is saying, I'm going to go with what I see IRL.
I only marginally trust it when I'm in rural or wilderness areas. We travel a lot in the less populated areas of Oregon and Washington and GPS directions can be very sketchy there. There are lots of USFS roads and those vary widely in how safe they are to travel at different times of the year. We generally stick only to freeways and highways October - April/May. We'll use USFS roads during the summer and early fall, but we do always have detailed topographical atlases for each state with us when we're traveling in those areas. GPS just doesn't show you what kind of road it is, how much elevation it's gaining, and the overall terrain. Topo maps do. But before we start a GPS-guided route that's going to use USFS roads, we double check the route with the topo atlas to be sure it's not insanity.
It would be very easy to follow GPS and have everything SEEM good until all of a sudden, your road turns into a one lane dirt with turnouts, no guardrails, steep climb, and patches of ice.
When I say GPS, I'm referring to using Google or Apple Maps via CarPlay. They are great for a lot of things. They are not so great for backcountry adventures.
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Post by heather on Jun 28, 2022 16:10:53 GMT
I was in Iceland earlier this month…so definitely in an area I was not familiar with. I was trying to get to my hotel and it sent me down a looooong driveway to this guys house. Lmao. I was so embarrassed. But he said it happens all the time.
Since it was down a long driveway I had no idea where it was leading. Poor guy was simply out in his front yard playing with his dogs when a fat American shows up ready to take over his home for a few days.
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Post by gar on Jun 28, 2022 16:21:20 GMT
I stopped using my car's on GPS because I didn't trust it but I trust Waze almost 100%.
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Post by monklady123 on Jun 28, 2022 17:03:44 GMT
I pretty much trust it if I'm in an area that I know nothing about, because I figure it will get me where I'm going eventually. lol. But if I'm heading somewhere in my own town, like picking up a Buy Nothing item, or heading out to the next town to a store I'll get myself in that direction then I'll following the GPS to find the specific location/address. Even to get out of my own neighborhood Siri wants to take me down a street where it's difficult to cross the first busy road (due to visibility because of a hill). I'd rather go my own way so when I cross that road I can see clearly in both directions.
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peabay
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,594
Jun 25, 2014 19:50:41 GMT
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Post by peabay on Jun 28, 2022 17:10:08 GMT
I stopped using my car's on GPS because I didn't trust it but I trust Waze almost 100%. I'm a Waze user and I trust it but I watch signs etc... too |
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Post by papersilly on Jun 28, 2022 17:39:01 GMT
i don't always follow my GPS. if i'm in a somewhat familiar territory, i will stick to the major roads i know. sometimes the GPS has me going through side streets that make no sense and don't cut time. if i go a different direction, i just wait for the GPS to reroute itself to where i am and then go from there.
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Post by lisae on Jun 28, 2022 20:37:56 GMT
I swear my DH would follow his GPS if it had him drive right into the lake. I have a good sense of direction and a good memory for places so I often question the GPS. Sometimes life would be easier if I just followed the GPS directions instead of taking my own route but I have found GPS to be in error. I don't use one unless we are traveling in an unfamiliar area or are driving to client homes. I've found it invaluable though in large cities with a lot of traffic because I can't navigate myself and manage the traffic at the same time.
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